


Kharyi

by thewolvesintherain



Series: I am one of the five people who enjoyed the 2016 Ben-Hur Remake... [1]
Category: Ben-Hur (2016)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 07:22:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8153800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewolvesintherain/pseuds/thewolvesintherain
Summary: Kharyi had come with the house.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so this is set some unnamed amount of time since the end of the film. Judah and his family went with Ilderim on the chariot racing circuit (which I'm sort of making up) with Ilderim and his tribe, and Judah and Massala start to heal/bond again. Messala can't ride chariots anymore, but he shows the tribe how to do it better, and they start winning a lot. 
> 
> Pilate somehow discovers that Judah was really innocent of the treason part of everything, restores their fortunes, and they start looking for a place to settle down. They finally settle on Carthage (Egypt); still part of the Roman empire, but removed from the main section of it. They buy a house, and that's where our part of the story picks up.

Lord Judah's brother is a quiet man, taller than Kharyi by a little bit, and very, very wounded. He and all his things are installed in the third room on the top floor, and Judah, through absolutely no idea what to do with Kharyi, asks if he will go up and see how his brother is getting along unpacking. 

Lord Messala is sitting aimlessly among his belongings, curled up next to the wall. Kharyi clears his throat gently to announce himself, then softens his tone when Messala jerks his head up in surprise. He tells him, "Lord Judah thought to see how you were getting on."

Messala's mouth twists, wryly, and he murmurs, "Well you can see that."

Kharyi can't help it, he smiles a bit, finally tells the man, "I could help you out if you'd like."

Messala nods and tries tiredly to rise off the floor, only to have his good leg give out underneath him. Kharyi moves to catch him quickly, lets the man lean against him while he catches his breath, then guides him over to one of the trunks sitting at the corner of the room, tells him, "I think, my lord, that you will sit, and I will unpack."

The man tries to argue, but by then he is already established on the trunk, leaned back against the wall softly, and Kavi is trying to figure out which pieces are Messala's from the pile of furniture downstairs. Lord Judah's wife, the lady Esther, finally directs him to a nice bed set and table, as well as a wardrobe, daybed and two chairs that look very comfortable. 

"There's a desk too, but that's somewhere with the rest of the bookshelves. We'll bring it up in a few minutes. Don't let him argue with you about the things either - we bought them for him."

He nods, directs a few of the men to carry it up to the Lord's room and move it around, while Messala watches with a sort of dazed surprise. Kharyi manages to get the bed and wardrobes in before he says, quietly, "This cannot all be mine -" then subsiding when Kharyi shakes his head and tells him, "It is my lord. Lady Esther was quite clear on it."

Messala clearly recognizes the futility of going against a sister-in-law and sits quietly until the bed is made up with the thick ticking and soft rugs that Lord Judah had said were Messala's as well. Once that is done Kharyi moves him onto there and begins unpacking the man's trunks. He leaves the armor and helms in the trunk, just putting it against the wall and leaving it for another time. He pulls out the books and ledgers that Messala might want, putting them aside to place on the desk, and begins to unpack clothes, most of which are either for a commander in the Roman Army, or what the Lords must have gotten from the Bedouin tribe they were traveling with. Very little else of it is suitable, and he makes a note to mention that to Judah, before pulling out a soft Roman red cloak, folded neatly in a saddle bag. 

He means to ask Messala if he wants it out, but he has since fallen asleep, curled up on his side on the soft bed, and he looks so worn out that Kharyi cannot bring himself to wake him. 

He starts setting out rugs, and directs the men to put the daybed out onto the balcony, and waits for the desk to get there to ask Lord Judah what he ought to do with it. 

 

Lord Judah's brother spends most of the first week they are there asleep or curled up in his bed, and Lord Judah will not force him to do anything. The other servants are wary of him, the Roman, but Kharyi knows War Weary men when he sees them, and he ends up taking over most of the work for him, taking him his meals and tidying the chambers. Lord Messala doesn't seem to care much who's in there, and he seems mostly to sleep, but Lord Judah bullies him into a bath on the fifth day, and Kharyi takes the chance to change all the linens in the room also. 

Messala is more than grateful once he comes back clean, to crawl between soft sheets, and Judah looks gratefully at Kharyi, sitting down at the edge of his brother's bed, and asking, "Are you going to eat dinner with us tonight?"

The question is gentle, but Messala shakes his head anyway, pressing his face into the blankets and murmuring, "I'm sorry."

Judah purses his lips, tells him, "It's fine brother. It's all fine. Go back to sleep, hmm?"

Kharyi brings him food, but Messala can't manage to eat any of it, so he just leaves it be. 

 

Kharyi has other duties in the house, and he's not Messala's keeper; so he doesn't worry when the Roman wobbles out into the sunlight of the courtyard as the girls are coming back in with their water buckets. He's up and around for the first time in days, and Kharyi is going to do nothing to discourage that. He keeps an eye on him as he talks the morning over with Cook and discusses what they will do for the scrubbing now that Maryi is lying in with her baby. He sees the man lean against the wall, and he makes a note to keep the servants away from there for a while. God knows he could use the sun. 

Lamia and Amani are giggling to one another over something, and Kharyi is glad to see them so happy, their hair braided up in some fancy way Lady Tirza had taught them, their faces starting to glow with a little more good health. They're not paying very much attention to what they're doing, and they knock one of the cisterns off of the low shelf it's on. It's already half heavy with water, and it breaks easily, the shattering noise jolting Messala away from the wall and towards the source of the noise with an alarmed shout.

If the man had still had two legs, it would have placed him with one leg a little forward, ready to deal with whatever threat. 

Unfortunately, Messala has one leg, and it goes down quickly once he loses his balance. 

He doesn't know where he is, that much is obvious, and now he's down and incapacitated, he's panicking, trying hard to get himself back up, and shouting for someone named Drusus. Kharyi can't blame him for being frightened, and he moves over quickly, reassuring the girls, who are nervous now, and speaking in such a flurry of worried Arabic that Kharyi pauses to reassure them, telling them, "He's just frightened. Go get Lord Judah, one of you."

He moves over to Messala slowly, hands in front of him, and speaking softly like he would to a spooked horse. He tells him, "You are safe now, My Lord. You're fine. The girls dropped a cistern, that's all. You're just a little spooked now, all right?"

Messala is shaking, and he looks far, far away, his hand moving to his waist where a sword used to lie. Kharyi creeps a little bit closer, tells him, "It's all right, My Lord. You're fine."

Lord Judah comes into the courtyard right about then, but he realizes quickly enough what's happening, stops a little bit away and murmurs, "Massi. Massi, it's Judah. You're fine. You're fine."

Messala moves his head a little bit towards his brother, and Judah bends down to move towards him, murmuring softly the whole time. He manages to get one of his brother's grasping hands, moves him gently towards his chest. Messala is beginning to come out of it, and Kharyi begins to move away to let the two of them have a little privacy. He can see Messala burying his head into his brother's chest, can hear Judah speaking to him softly. 

But no one else needs to see this, and with that in mind, he herds everyone else into the kitchen and leaves the two alone. 

It's several days later, that Messala comes out to the courtyard again, but instead of going to the corner, moves straight to Lamia and Amani, and begins to apologize, in a soft, halting voice, for frightening them. He tries to explain that he thought the cistern breaking was something else, and of course, they're not at fault, but they listen quietly, and nod when he is done, and tell him that they were not much scared, and he has done nothing to frighten them. 

Kharyi has a daybed brought out there, in one of the corners that get shade as the day goes on. Lord Messala begins to spend mornings out there, and even eating breakfast with his brother, leaned up against the wall and talking to him, softly. 

 

Lord Judah calls him into his study a few days later and asks him to sit down, Kharyi does, afraid that he's about to be given the offer of another position in a different household, but Judah instead tells him, "Messala - my brother - is not well."

Kharyi nods, says, "Yes my lord", because really, there is no arguing with that.

Judah tells him, "I'd like to have someone for him, for when I cannot be there, or he needs more help with day to day things. Obviously, you'd get a raise in wages, and a nicer room. The duties should be fairly light, and I doubt Messala will ask for anything particularly difficult."

Kharyi doesn't say anything, beyond, "There are body slaves, my lord - " but Judah shakes his head, tells him, "I want someone he'll trust, Kharyi, and he trusts you." 

His new status doesn't mean much more than he gets a room across the hall from Messala's and his own basin and nightstand. Messala doesn't ask much from him at all, and Kharyi could very easily spend most of the day with the other servants in the kitchen, only going up to help the man with meals, or to get him out of bed every great once and a while. 

But he wants to do more than that for the man, and he can see how much he means to the rest of the family. 

So his first morning as Messala's man, he wakes his new master up early enough in the morning to eat breakfast with the rest of the family. 

Messala is still not quite awake but he's amiable enough to clean his face and arms, put on a new tunic, and get down the stairs with Kharyi's help. The main salon is still lamp lit with the early morning, and Messala allows himself to be herded into the room and established on one of the couches, where he has a good view of the room. The breakfast is all laid out on the table, and he asks the man, "What would you like to eat?"

Messala hesitates, murmurs, "I can get it myself -", but Kharyi tells him, "I can get it, My Lord. Now, what would you like?"

Messala eventually relents to having some bread and honey, though he eats very little of it, much to Judah's displeasure. He stays curled into himself on the couch while the ladies of the family depart, and once they are gone he begins to doze off again, curled up against his knees. Judah doesn't say anything, but he comes over and gets his brother unwound from around himself, and guides him down to the couch, before draping the rug there over him and leading Kharyi out of the room, telling him, "Thank you, Kharyi. Truly."

Kharyi doesn't think it's much at all, but he accepts the man's thanks, and goes back into the kitchen, looking in on Messala every few moments. He wakes him in time for him to be upright and aware when the rest of the family comes into the room and serves him again before stepping into the background. 

Messala, however, is not having any of it, and he turns around slightly, before murmuring, "Come sit down Kharyi."

He hesitates, but none of the family argue, and he nods, sitting down in one of the chairs beside the couch, and listening to the quiet conversation that takes place as the family eats their noon meal. 

Lord Judah and Lady Tirza are carrying most of the conversation, though Lady Esther interjects occasionally with a comment here or there. Lady Naomi is stiff and sullen in the chair on the other side, and Messala does little other than pick at his food and struggle to stay awake. 

Judah looks concerned at his brother's appetite, and murmurs, "You need to eat, Massi." He's obviously trying to be gentle, but it's enough to make his brother curl up into himself further, as Lady Naomi makes a disapproving sound and Judah shoots her a glare. 

Messala manages a few bites of the rice before he shakes his head, and whispers, "I'd like to - I'd like to go upstairs, please."

Kharyi nods and helps him up and to the door. He hadn't bothered with the crutch this morning, hadn't thought they would need it, and he's regretting it now. Messala is heavy with muscle, and he's quickly becoming dead weight, pressing more and more weight against the wall. 

Kharyi manages to get him up to the top of the stairs before Messala stops moving, pressing himself against the wall and telling him, "Get Judah."

He means to help the man to his bedroom, but Messala's eyes roll up into the back of his head, and his knee gives out before Kharyi can do anything but shout for Judah's help. 

The other man comes quickly, sees what's happened and helps get his brother into the room, then tells Kharyi, "Go for the surgeon. Please. Someone you trust."


End file.
